Well I guess I started a fire storm today when I posted this eBay auction on a Facebook site.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/172666503093?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I wasn't sure if it was a poorly cared for Paul Hamler reproduction or if it was a really nice original #50 plow plane. I know Jim Bode has an original listed for sale on his web site so I posted it over on Hand Plane Building and Restoring page.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1410047249324398/permalink/1805959173066535/?comment_id=1806168479712271&notif_t=group_comment&notif_id=1494420620946143

The comments poured in and it appears that it is a Paul Hamler reproduction with rusty arms. I knew the fence was the same design on Paul's version and the original that Jim has listed has a different style fence but I didn't know that much about them to make the determination on my own.

Several of the guys on the Facebook page have contacted the seller so the auction might come down as the price is over $1,200 already and a good Paul Hamler is worth around $800 tops. Several have sold for around $500 or so.

An interesting auction to see what happens.

I hope none of you guys are in on this one.

Les, you have raised a good question. How do you tell them apart? To my knowledge Paul doesn't mark his stuff so no help there.  Comparing the two, it seems that the detail on the Hamler version is more crisp, but this is very subjective, since it is hard to compare the two from differing photo views.

Mike

I guess experience is the best answer. If you go to Jim Bode's web site and look under planes, plow planes you can pull up the pictures he has and compare the 2. The easiest thing to notice is the fence details. Paul's reproduction doesn't have the same elaborate details as the original. The Facebook page has a lot of replies and one guy went into other construction details that are different. I don't know if the originals had different fences or if they were all the same and I still don't know enough about them to make that determination. I always admired the #50 especially when I was collecting screw arm plow planes but I never studied them because they were out of my price range.

I think this is one of very few full sized tools that Paul reproduced if not the only one.

The seller has relisted the plane after several people explained to him how to determine it is a reproduction. The bidding has re-started.

Quote from: Lewill2 on May 11, 2017, 08:36:29 PM
The seller has relisted the plane after several people explained to him how to determine it is a reproduction. The bidding has re-started.

The price is over $600 already, even though he re-listed it as a reproduction??? That is surprising.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_odkw=&_ssn=antique_underground&item=172666503093&_osacat=0&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=plane&_sacat=0

Sold for $685.00

Mike